The Meshech Chochmah asks why isn’t Sukkot referenced by name in Parashat Mishpatim? Instead, it’s exclusively referred to as chag ha’asif, when we gather in the produce. Why must we wait until Emor to discover the name Chag HaSukkot? In addition, many commentaries are puzzled by the date on which we celebrate Sukkot. It would have been more logical to celebrate Sukkot following Pesach and prior to Shavuot, symbolizing the sukkot in which we dwelled during the intermittent journey in the desert that transpired between the historical events of yetziat Mitzrayim (Pesach) and matan Torah (Shavuot).
The Tur (625) suggests that the reason we celebrate Sukkot in Tishrei instead of Nissan is so that it is clearly recognizable that we are sitting in the sukkah because we were commanded to do so and not for pleasure. If we celebrated the holiday of Sukkot in the spring, people might postulate that we sit outside because the weather is pleasant and not to fulfill a particular mitzvah. The assumption of this approach seems to point to a pirsumei nissa type of idea for the mitzvah of sukkah as well. It must be clear to others what we are doing. It is a mitzvah that has a goal of publicizing Hashem’s kindness to us.
The Gra, though, offers a different, fascinating explanation. In his commentary on Shir HaShirim, the Gra posits that if one does the math, Moshe remained on Har Sinai for a hundred and twenty days – three sets of forty days. The first time he ascended was on the seventh day of Sivan, and he descended on the seventeenth of Tammuz, at which point he broke the first set of luchot. At this point, Chazal tell us that the special protective ananei hakavod (clouds of glory) surrounding the nation disappeared.
Moshe then ascended on the eighteenth of Tammuz to ask for forgiveness on behalf of the nation and returned on Erev Rosh Chodesh Elul to inform Bnei Yisrael that they had been forgiven for their transgression of cheit ha’eigel (golden calf).
Moshe’s final ascent on Har Sinai was on Rosh Chodesh Elul, and he returned on Yom Kippur with the second set of luchot. At that point, on the following day, Moshe announced the building of the Mishkan and requested that people donate the requisite items. On the twelfth and thirteenth of the month of Tishrei, contributions and donations were collected for the Mishkan. On the fourteenth day of Tishrei, they began to build the Mishkan, and on the fifteenth day, the ananei hakavod returned. The clouds that had disappeared at the time of cheit ha’eigel returned with the commencement of the building of the Mishkan.
It is no coincidence, then, that we celebrate Sukkot on the fifteenth day of Tishrei, exactly on the date upon which the ananei hakavod returned and encircled the nation. According to the Gra, Sukkot was not moved from the Spring to the Fall, it is at the particular time that the “sukkot” (ananei hakavod) reappeared in the desert! After all, we hold like Rabbi Eliezer (Sukkah 11b) that the sukkah is meant to remind us of those special clouds of glory (see also – Bach O.C. 625).
The Meshech Chochmah then adds a fascinating suggestion. Perhaps the Yom Tov of Sukkot didn’t even exist prior to cheit ha’eigel. There was a chag ha’asif, but there may not have been a mitzvah of sukkah, and that is why the Torah only refers to the time as chag ha’asif, when referencing the chag prior to cheit ha’eigel. When we sit in our sukkot, we should contemplate not only the sukkot in which we temporarily dwelled during our journey in the desert, but recognize that our sukkah symbolizes the ananei hakavod that reappeared, which should remind us of Hashem’s continued hashgacha over all aspects of our lives.
Rabbi Shalom Rosner is Rosh Beit Midrash of Machon Lev English Speakers program, a popular Maggid Shiur (including for the Tzurba Hilchot Shabbat Program), and the Rabbi of Kehillat Nofei Hashemesh in Beit Shemesh.